Cole

One of the ways in which organizations in the healthcare field can gain competitive advantage is through the effective management of human resources. That is why most of the companies in the healthcare field go to great lengths to ensure that they have well-equipped HR departments. Some are actually known to go to the extent of headhunting the best HR management professionals, and to pay them top dollar salaries – just to ensure that they get the HR management function right.

The reality is that we are living in an era when healthcare companies can’t afford to take the HR management function for granted. Gone are the days when ‘personnel management’ was viewed as a ‘by the way’. Today, Human Resource management is one of the core business functions. And any company that cares about its long-term success can’t afford to take it (the HR management) for granted.

There are at least 5 key things that the companies in the healthcare field do, so as to get the HR management function right. In this article, we will be looking at those 5 things that companies in the healthcare field do, in an effort to get the HR aspect right. These are the things you too would need to do, with regard to HR management, if you are setting up a new business in the healthcare field.

In order to get the HR management function right, companies in the healthcare field are known to:

Hire the best HR management practitioners

How well a company’s human resource is managed depends on the caliber of people running the HR department. That is why, as we alluded earlier, the companies in the healthcare field are known to go to great lengths, to get the best HR management practitioners. Just to be clear, the best HR management practitioners in this regard are those who have solid qualifications in the field. Further, the best HR management practitioners are those who have solid experience — complete with track records.

To be in a position to get the best HR management practitioners, the companies in the healthcare field are known – as alluded to earlier – to go to the extent of headhunting. Others opt to enlist the services of recruitment consultants, when it comes to hiring the HR management practitioners. Others still advertise the HR management jobs widely, sometimes internationally, so as to get the best possible people.

Act on the advice given the HR management practitioners

Hiring the best HR management practitioners is one thing. Acting on the advice given the HR management experts is another challenge altogether. That is especially the case when you consider the fact that the HR management experts sometimes give advice that is counter-intuitive. Yet when all is said and done, there is no point in hiring the best HR management practitioners, and then failing to act on the professional advice they give. So this is why the most successful companies in the healthcare field tend to have a policy of always implementing the strategies they are advised to implement by their HR managers. And they do so even when that entails making difficult decisions.

It is therefore possible for a company to have top-notch HR management practitioners, but still fail in its HR management function. This would be on account of failing to act on the advice given by the HR management practitioners. On the other hand, it is possible for another company to have HR managers who are nowhere near the ‘top notch’ – yet it still manages to get the HR management function right. This would be on account of acting on the advice given by the HR management practitioners (which, as we just saw, sometimes entails having to make very difficult decisions).

Invest in the best HR management software systems

In a bid to get their HR management function right, the leading companies in the healthcare field are known to invest in the best HR management software systems. These are software programs that are designed to automate most aspects of HR management. Sometimes, the HR management software systems are included in the integrated ERP suites that most of the healthcare companies are increasingly deploying. In other cases, the HR management software operates on ‘stand-alone’ basis.

This is also where the question of having HR portals, accessible by the employees over the Internet, arises. Today, you find that pretty much every major healthcare companies has taken the trouble to establish some sort of web-based HR portal for its employees. All these things are done with the objective of ensuring that there is efficiency in the management of the human resources.

Allocate adequate funds to the HR management function

In a bid to get the HR management function right, the companies in the healthcare field are known to allocate adequate funds to the function. It is through these funds that they are subsequently able to pay the top dollar salaries demanded by the top notch HR practitioners they have to hire. It is also through these funds that they are able to invest in the latest HR management software systems… and do the whole range of other thing that are necessary, if HR management is to be done right.

Outsource the HR management function

Having realized that HR management is not their ‘core function’, some businesses in the healthcare field are increasingly opting to outsource it to specialist companies. So you may find a healthcare company that has opted to contract another firm (one that specializes in recruitment), to be doing recruitment on its behalf. Some actually outsource both the recruitment and day to day management of support staff to other firms. So you find that the people doing support tasks in such healthcare companies are actually working as ‘contractors’ — as opposed to them being directly employed by the healthcare companies in question. Or you may find a healthcare firm that has opted to hire a HR consultant (rather than an in-house HR director), to be advising it on the best human resource management policies to use.

In some cases, calculations reveal that it is more cost-effective to outsource the HR management function, rather than trying to do it in-house. It is after such calculations that we tend to see some companies in the healthcare field opting to outsource the HR management function.

Nowadays, pretty much every major company in the healthcare field has a HR portal. And whereas each HR portal is unique, they tend to have some common features. In other words, there are features you will tend to find in almost any healthcare company’s HR portal.

It is understandable that the HR portals for healthcare companies would have some common features. After all, these portals are designed to serve pretty much the same purpose. The resources that are meant to be accessed by the employees through the portals are the same. And in some cases, you find that the web development company that was contracted to create a HR portal for company ‘A’ is the same one that was contracted to create a HR portal for company ‘B’. It is then hardly surprising that the features in the HR portals would be the same, given the fact that they were created by the same individuals.

In this article, we will be looking at some of the common features in the healthcare companies’ HR portals. These, in other words, are the features you (as a web developer) would be expected to incorporate, were you to be contracted to create a HR portal for a healthcare company.

Without further ado, the common features in the HR portals for healthcare companies usually include:

User login requirements

Most of the HR portals for healthcare companies tend to be password protected. In fact this applies for all sorts of other HR portals: not just those in the healthcare field. In most cases, when you go to the HR portals’ homepages, what you tend to find are spaces for entry of login credentials. The required login credentials tend to be a username and a password. So you find that you can’t proceed any further, without entering those login credentials.

That the HR portals for the healthcare companies would be password protected is understandable. After all, these are portals meant to facilitate access to personal (employment-related) details. So you have to prove that you are an authorized person, before being allowed to access the personal employment-related details. And the way you prove that you are an authorized person is by entering the right combination of a username and a password.

Payroll details access

All HR portals for healthcare companies provide access to payroll details. This means that through the HR portals, individuals (namely the employees of the healthcare companies) are able to access their present and past paystubs. Further, through the HR portals, the healthcare companies’ employees are able to access details on how their paychecks are arrived at. Those would include details on hours worked, earning rates per hour, as well as the applicable deductions that ultimately lead to the paycheck figures. At yet another level, the HR portals for healthcare companies tend to provide access to tax information. So through the HR portals, the healthcare companies’ employees are able to access the various forms they need for tax filing purposes.

Work schedule details access

Most of the HR portals for healthcare companies tend to have modules through which the employees can access their work schedules such as the mycvshr portal. Therefore, thanks to the HR portals, the employees can check to confirm when they are supposed to be on duty and when they are supposed to be off-duty. And that is something they can do from anywhere and at anytime — thanks to the HR portals. Gone are the days when the work timetables would have to be printed and then pasted on notice boards for the employees to read.

Some of the HR portals for healthcare companies actually have components that allow the employees to indicate the times they’d prefer to be on duty and the times they’d prefer to be off-duty. That is usually the case for the healthcare companies that operate on 24-hour basis (under the shifts systems).So the employees are requested to log into the portals and indicate the times they’d be prefer to be on duty and the times they’d prefer to be off-duty. These are preferences that are subsequently taken into consideration when preparing the final work schedules.

At yet another level, the HR portals for healthcare companies tend to have components that allow the employees to request for time-off, and to apply for leave days online.

So it becomes clear that the HR portals for healthcare companies are designed with the objective of eliminating the need for the employees to visit the HR offices. After all, the employees are able to do for themselves things like checking work schedules, applying for off-days, applying for leave… and so on through the portals. Those are the things that would otherwise have gotten the healthcare companies’ employees to set aside time to visit the HR offices. Ultimately, thanks to the HR portals, it is possible for someone to get employed at a healthcare company, and proceed to work there for a decade — without ever having to visit the HR offices.

Benefits information details access

Most of the HR portals for healthcare companies tend to have employee benefits modules. Those are modules that make it possible for the employees to access details about the benefits (for instance, medical benefits) they are entitled to online. Further, the HR portals tend to have components that allow the employees to log in, and update details pertaining to their benefits. Like if, for instance, an employee has gotten a new child, and he wants to include him/her as a ‘beneficiary/dependant’ under the medical benefits, he is able to do so through the HR portal. Therefore thanks to the HR portal, the employee doesn’t have to visit the HR offices whenever he wants to update his benefits details.

Training modules access

A good number of the HR portals for healthcare companies nowadays provide access to training modules. Therefore the employees who wish to access training resources are able to do so through the HR portals. That includes new employees, who need access to orientation resources. In fact, some healthcare companies are able to carry out their training for new employees entirely through the HR portals.

Multi-platform access

Nowadays, most of the HR portals for healthcare companies are designed in a manner that makes multi-platform access possible. Therefore, the employees are able to access the resources they need (on the HR portals), whether they are using Windows or Linux powered desktop computers. They are also able to access the portals through Mac-OS-powered laptops, Android-based smart-phones… and even the simplest internet-enabled mobile phones.

It has become almost obligatory for healthcare companies to set up HR portals for their employees. In this day and age, any healthcare company that fails to set up a HR portal for its employees is at risk of losing competitive advantage. But as many HR managers in the healthcare field have come to learn, setting up the HR portals for employees is just half the equation. The other important half is that of training the employees on the use of the HR portals. Therefore the process of introducing the HR portals for healthcare employees can be best visualized as a two-step process. The first step is that of establishing the actual HR portal, and making it available to the employees. The second step is that of training the staff on the use of the HR portal. It is possible to have a very good HR portal, and still fail to reap the expected results, if you don’t take the trouble to train the staff on the portal’s use.

Why healthcare workers need to be trained on the use of HR portals

If the staff members (in any given healthcare company) are not properly trained on the use of the HR portal, they may start viewing the portal as an inconvenience. This would be a pity: especially when you remember that, in actual fact, the HR portals are meant to make life easier for the employees. Yet, due to lack of training, they come to view it as an inconvenience.

The older staff members, who were born before the computer era, are particularly susceptible to viewing things like the HR portals in question here as ‘inconveniences’. That is why there is need to train them adequately, before getting them to start using the HR portals.

Admittedly, it is very easy for the people who are IT savvy to get the feeling that the HR portals are too ‘simple’ to warrant any training. After all, these portals tend to be ‘intuitive’, and for individuals who have good computer skills, it doesn’t seem too hard to figure out how to access various resources through the portals. But remember, there are individuals who were born before the computer era. Some of them actually suffer from tech-phobia. For such individuals, there will never be a point when anything related to computers feels ‘intuitive’. That is what makes it necessary to organize training courses for them, before getting them to start using the HR portals.

Situations where it is necessary to train staff on the use of HR portals

There are three situations where it is necessary to train healthcare companies’ staff on the use of HR portals.

The first scenario is if the HR portal has just been introduced to a company. So here, we would be looking at a company that has been previously operating without a HR portal. Then, at some point, an HR portal is set up: and the staff members have to be trained on its use before it is commissioned.

The second scenario is if you are dealing with a new employee. So this would be a newly-hired individual, who is expected to be accessing his work-related resources through the portal. It becomes necessary to train him, so as to get him to know what the best way to use the portal is. Without training, the person may end up opting to learn how to use the HR portal through ‘trial and error’. And in the process, the individual may end up making some rather costly blunders.

The third scenario is if you, as the administrator of the HR portal, come to realize that the staff members are not using it in the right manner. So you opt to have the staff trained (or retrained) on the proper use of the HR portal, with the objective of getting them to do it right.

Ways in which you can train healthcare staff on the use of HR portals

There are 3 ways in which you can train healthcare staff on the use of HR portals.

The first approach would be where you organize formal training sessions for the staff members. In the course of the formal training sessions, you get to impart on them the various skills they need, to use the HR portals properly. This approach can work very well if, for instance, the HR portal is being introduced in a company where it wasn’t used before. You therefore find that all members of staff in the company need training on how to use the portal. So you may organize ‘seminars’, during which the staff members are given lessons – complete with practical demonstrations – on how to use the HR portal.

The second approach would be where you organize informal training sessions, with the individual staff members – during which you get to show them how to use the HR portals in the right manner. This approach can very well if there is only one individual who needs the training, or if there are just a few employees who need the training at a given point in time. So this is where you, as the HR portal administrator, can visit the employee at his desk, sit with him for an hour, and demonstrate to him how to use the HR portal in the right manner.

The third approach is where you set up web-based tutorials, through which you get to (remotely) train the employees on the proper use of the HR portals. These tutorials can be based on text. Or they can ideally be audio-visual tutorials. This approach can work very well if yours is a multi-branch healthcare company. Since you can’t keep on going to each and every branch to train the staff on the use of the HR portal, you can opt to set up web-based tutorials for the purpose. Then individuals who need the training – including newly hired staff members – can be referred to the web-based tutorials.

What you need to focus on, while training staff on the use of HR portals

The most important thing is to ensure that the staff members get a practical understanding on how to get various things done through the HR portal. This is why the training on the use of the HR portals should be mainly based on practical demonstrations — whether it is done through formal or informal training sessions.

It is also important to get the staff to understand how to deal with the various challenges they may encounter while using the HR portals. If, for instance, the computer hangs while using the HR portal, if they forget their passwords, if they enter the wrong details – you need to train them on how to deal with all these sorts of situations.